According to the legends of New Zealand"s Indigenous Māori people, the lonely Mount Taranaki wasn"t always lonely. Taranaki, the story goes, once lived among other mountains in the North Island"s center. But Taranaki feuded with the powerful volcano Tongariro over the love of the pretty peak Pīhanga. In their epic battle, the now flat-topped Tongariro lost his head but emerged victorious. The vanquished Taranaki wandered west, cutting trenches as he trudged to the shore and filling them with lovesick tears to create the region"s rivers.
New Zealand s loneliest mountain
Today in History
More Desktop Wallpapers:
-
A dreamy start to the Year of the Pig
-
Giant kelp in the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary
-
Whooper swans in Lake Kussharo, Japan
-
Legacy mural in Philadelphia
-
The long and wiggling path
-
Burns Night
-
Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, California
-
Santorini through the clouds
-
Reflecting on fall
-
Tigh Mor Trossachs on Loch Achray, Scotland
-
National Hug Day
-
Chicagohenge
-
Birch trees, Drammen, Norway
-
Southern right whales sail home to South Africa
-
Art and soul
-
Honoring the first American woman in space
-
Wychwood Forest, Oxfordshire, England
-
Bridge of Sighs in Venice, Italy
-
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park turns 103
-
A tree of many memories
-
Bridge of Hillsborough County
-
Storseisundet Bridge, Norway
-
The Sky Over Nine Columns in Venice, Italy
-
Golden larches and Prusik Peak, the Enchantments, Washington
-
Unearthing a queen s lost tale
-
Birthplace of Roman emperors
-
The aftermath of a meteorite
-
Negratín Reservoir, Granada, Spain
-
Fin whales: A success story
-
Happy Mother s Day!